Month: December 2008

PRESIDENT OF ARMENIA: GAS SUPPLY LEVEL IN ARMENIA IS AMONG THE BEST IN THE WORLD

ArmInfo
2008-12-02 16:23:00

ArmInfo. Gas supply level in Armenia is among the best in the world,
President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan said at the 10th meeting of the
Presidential Atomic Energy Council Tuesday.

He said that Iran-Armenian gas pipeline project was implemented
to diversify the supply of energy resources to the country. The
pipeline was connected to the system of internal gas supply of
Armenia Monday. The existing capacity of the underground gas-holder
in the town of Abovyan is currently being modernized and increased,
the president said.

At present there are 574269 gas consumers in Armenia, which is more
than in Soviet period.

CONSTRUCTION OF KAJARAN-ARARAT SECTOR OF IRAN-ARMENIA GAS PIPELINE COMPLETED

ArmInfo
2008-12-01 17:53:00

ArmInfo. Construction of the Kajaran-Ararat sector of the Iran-Armenia
gas pipeline has been completed, this will allow Armenia to receive
gas from Iran in the near future. The total value of the project made
up approximately 130 mln USD.

Former and incumbent presidents of Armenia Robert Kocharyan and Serzh
Sargsyan, Energy Minister Armen Movsissyan, Head of Gazprom Aleksey
Miller and Director General of ArmRusgasprom CJSC Karen Karapetyan
attended the closing ceremony of construction, Monday. The last joint
of the pipeline near the town of Vedi, Ararat region of Armenia,
was solemnly welded during the ceremony.

Chairman of Board of Gazprom A.Miller said that the new channel of
gas delivery is an important step to ensure the energy security of
Armenia, reliable and stable deliveries of energy resources. "Our
successful cooperation with Armenian colleagues can be carried out only
on the basis of high-level political cooperation between Russia and
Armenia. Our cooperation is based first and foremost on friendship
and mutual benefit, and this is the pledge of its steadiness and
durability", – Miller said.

Armenian Energy Minister A.Movsissyan said that the completed sector
of the gas pipeline will be tested in several days and put into
operation. Through this direction Armenia will manage to receive up
to 2.6 bln cub.m. per year.

According to interstate agreements reached earlier, Armenia will pay
for the gas by deliveries of electric power to Iran at the rate of
3 KW/h for 1 cub.m. The gas will be delivered if the need arises.

SWITZERLAND WILL JOIN SCHENGEN AGREEMENT DEC 12 2008

ArmInfo
2008-12-01 21:08:00

ArmInfo. Switzerland will join Schengen Agreement on Dec 12 2008,
reports the press service of the Foreign Ministry of Armenia.

Starting from Dec 12 all foreigners, including Armenian citizens,
having Schengen visas will be allowed to enter the territory of
Switzerland.

Dec 15 the embassies of Switzerland abroad will start issuing Schengen
visas. The closest Swiss embassy to Armenia is the embassy in Tbilisi.

PRESIDENT OF ARMENIA: ABOUT US $90 MILLION WERE DIRECTED FOR SAFETY ENHANCEMENT OF ARMENIAN NPP SINCE ITS RESTART

ArmInfo
2008-12-02 16:19:00

ArmInfo. About US $90 mln were directed for safety enhancement of
the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant [ANPP] since restart of its second
power unit in early 1995, President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan said
at today’s 10th session of the Nuclear Power Security Council.

Armenian president expressed gratitude to all the countries which
assisted in enhancement of safety of the Armenian NPP’s operating
unit since its recommissioning. ‘Armenia is satisfied by the fact that
ANNP’s safety level meets all the international standards’, S. Sargsyan
said. According to him, the work of the nuclear power pecialists is
an example of purposeful application of deep professional knowledge
and of impersonal serving to their professional duty. ‘The work you
do in the area of safety and operation of the Armenian NPP assures
maintenance of the country’s security at a high level’, S. Sargsyan
said and recalled that the Council was set in 1996. Many eminent
foreign specialists were attracted to its operation over this time.

‘In general, the sphere of energy security and nuclear safety,
in particular, has always been one of the priorities both for the
country’s president and the government’, S. Sargsyan said. He
added that some changes took place in the Council’s staff over
this period. In particular, deputy Director of the State Nuclear
Energy Corporation Alexander Lapshin was included in its staff. The
Nuclear Energy Security Council plays an important part in the area of
Armenia’s energy security. The remarks, proposals and recommendations,
developed by the Council, have always been a subject of thorough
analysis. Many of them were implemented. In particular, the Nuclear
Regulatory Authority was reorganized into a State Nuclear Safety
Regulatory Committee under the Armenian government. A package of
proposals on revision of the list of technical measures for enhancement
of safety of ANPP’s second unit based on the safety analysis report
played an essential part. ‘We highly appreciate the activity of IAEA on
coordination of the different international technical assistance. In
particular, it aims at implementation of the points of the list of
technical measures on enhancement of safety of the Armenian NPP’s
second power unit’, S. Sargsyan said. He recalled that the third
working session on this topic was held jointly with IAEA and the
Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources of Armenia in September,
2008, in Yerevan.

ARMENIA’S FOREIGN TRADE TURNOVER WITH EU MEMBER COUNTRIES GROWS 23.9% TO $1,625.6 MILLION

ARKA
Dec 2, 2008

YEREVAN, December 2. /ARKA/. Armenia’s foreign trade turnover with
EU member countries grew 23.9% in Jan/Oct 2008, compared with the
same period a year earlier, and reached $1,625.6 million, National
Statistical Service of Armenia reports.

According to the statistical report, trade turnover with European
Union made 36% of Armenia’s foreign trade turnover in Jan/Oct 2008.

Armenia’s exports to EU countries amounted to $517 million (54.9%
of total export) after growing 13.5% in Kan/Oct 2008, compared with
the same period of the previous year.

Imports from EU countries amounted to $949 million (24.2% growth)
or 26.5% of total import.

EU-made imports totaled $1,108.6 million after growing 29.5%.

German, with 8.3% or $373.2 million share in total import, was the
biggest importer in Armenia among EU countries.

Belgium was the second largest importer with its 3.6%. Then come
Bulgaria (3.4%) and the Netherlands (3.2%).

Armenia’s total foreign trade turnover has grown 31.5% over the period
between January and October 2008, compared with the same period of
2007, and reached $4,520.1 million. Exports amounted to $941.2 million
and imports $3,579.2 million.

KAREN KARAPETYAN: ARMENIA MUST BECOME ONE OF THE ENERGY CENTERS OF THE REGION

ArmInfo
2008-12-01 21:05:00

ArmInfo. Armenia must become one of the energy centers of the region,
the chairman of the board-director general of ArmRosgazprom CJSC
Karen Karapetyan said during the welding of the last joint of the
Kajaran-Ararat section of the Iran-Armenia gas pipeline.

ArmRosgazprom’s stable development can help Armenia in the matter.

"I would like to thank the leaders of our country, particularly,
the second president of Armenia Robert Kocharyan, for their support,"
Karapetyan said.

He pointed out that the cooperation between Armenia and Gazprom
was an example of effective partnership that made possible the most
ambitious projects. The idea to build Iran-Armenia gas pipeline arose
in the mid 1990s. The project was launched in 2007 after signing of
a contract between the Government of Armenia and Gazprom OJSC and has
been completed very quickly. The strategic goal of ArmRosgazprom is to
make Armenia one of the energy centers of the region by implementing
lots of big and important projects. "This means that you will see
more such ceremonies in the future," Karapetyan said.

To remind, Gazprom owns 75.55% of shares of ArmRosgazprom, 20% belong
to the Government of Armenia, 4.44% to Itera. The total capital of
the company is almost $580mln

PRESIDENT: ARMENIA HOPES TO RETAIN FAST ECONOMIC GROWTH

ARKA
Dec 2, 2008

YEREVAN, December 2. /ARKA/. Armenia hopes to retain fast economic
growth and low inflation rate despite the global crisis, Armenian
President Serzh Sargsyan said Tuesday at a session of the presidential
committee on atomic energy safety.

He views the current macroeconomic situation as stable and predictable.

The head of state stressed that high capitalization of Armenian banking
system makes it possible to mitigate the outside impact on Armenia.

"We understands that it is impossible to get out of the crisis without
losses, but the losses can be minimized", Sargsyan said.

National Statistical Service of Armenia says that 9.2% economic growth
was recorded in Armenia in Jan/Oct 2008, compared with the same period
of the previous year.

Inflation was recorded at 5.1% in November 2008, compared with
December 2007.

November’s year-on-year inflation was 6.6%.

GEOPROMINIG IS READY TO INVEST $350MLN IN GOLD MINING IN ARMENIA

ArmInfo
2008-12-01 20:52:00

ArmInfo. In 2009-2011 GeoProMinig is going to invest $350mln in
gold mining in Armenia, Director General of GPM GOLD LLC (company of
GeoProMining Group) Dmitry Kalandadze said during the first melting
of gold at Ararat Gold Recovery Factory.

Members of the Armenian Government and the top managers of GeoProMining
attended the ceremony.

Kalandadze said that the money would be spent on modernization
of the existing factory and the construction of a new plant and a
tailing dump. The greater part of the money will be provided by the
shareholders, the remaining part will be borrowed from international
financial organizations.

After 1.5-year idleness due to purchase procedures, in early Nov 2008
GeoProMining started to develop Sotq deposit in northern Armenia.

Each year the company is planning to mine and recover 25,000-30,000
ounces of gold. This is not enough for earning profit."When
GeoProMining bought Ararat Gold Recovery Company we promised to
launch it and we have kept our promise even despite the present global
crisis. We are not seeking profit for the moment. Our priority is to
solve the social problems and to provide people with work as after a
long downtime we may lose highly-qualified personnel," Kalandadze said.

He pointed out that since the purchase of AGRC GeoProMining had already
invested $15mln for kee ping GPM GOLD LLC in working condition,
particularly, $8mln has been spent on restart of the factory and
organization of railroad transportation of ore from Sotq deposit to
Ararat. $3mln-3.5mln more will be spent for this purpose by the end
of this year.

D.Kalandadze said that the first 10-12 kg bars of Dore bead with 40-50%
gold content and 50-60% silver content will shortly be sent to Johnson
Matthey affinage plant for final processing, afterwards they will be
sent to the London Metal Exchange within ten days. The gold price is
still stable and the company’s leadership hopes that the price will
not drop, he said.

First Vice President of GeoProMining Group Roman Khudoley (Moscow)
said that he has come to congratulate the personnel and leadership
of the company on the first melting. The group implemented all its
liabilities while the world faces a crisis, and here a great role
belongs to the personnel and leadership, he said.

For his part, Armenian Economy Minister Nerses Yeritsyan told
journalists that GeoProMining displayed a good will having launched
the company and implemented thereby its liabilities. The pledge of
the work success is still the stable price of gold and adherence
to the investment program approved by the Armenian government,
the minister said. He added that the new shareholders promised to
introduce new technologies of gold mining and work methods supported
by the government.

To recal l, in August 2007 the Indian group Vedanta Resources signed an
agreement on selling 82,4% of shares in Canadian company StÒ~PrlitÒ~P
Gold, the main asset of which was the Ararat Gold Recovery Company
(AGRC) of GeoProMining company included in the Industrial Investors
Group. The total amount of the package sale made up $86 mln.

–Boundary_(ID_X9rxOs4KETiv5kmyDciFsg)–

77 MLN CUBIC METERS OF GAS PUMPED INTO ABOVYAN GAS STORAGE IN ARMENIA IN JAN-OCT

ARKA
Dec 2, 2008

YEREVAN, December 2. /ARKA/. In order to ensure timely gas supply
to Armenian consumers, a total of 77mln cubic meters of natural gas
were pumped into Abovyan gas storage in January-October this year,
which is by 6% more than in the same period of last year, the press
service of ArmRosgasprom closed joint stock company reported.

Volume of scheduled repair and reconstruction works under the storage
modernization program amounted to about 500mln Drams this year. The
volume of the gas stored is expected to reach 123mln cubic meters by
the end of the year, says the report.

Under favorable conditions and if repair works are completed
successfully at backup wells, "ArmRosgasprom" is to be able to reserve
250mln cubic meters of gas by the end of 2013, the company’s press
service reported.

"ArmRosgasprom" closed joint stock company was founded in 1997.

"Gasprom" open joint stock company and Armenian Ministry of Energy had
45% of the shares each with the remaining 10% belonging to "Itera". In
the scope of three planned investment stages of the project (after
purchase of additional shares of ArmRosgasprom in 2006 and 2008)
the share of "Gasprom" company in the authorized stock has increased
to 75.55%. The share of the Armenian Government is 20% and that of
"Itera 4.44%. (1$=305.31Drams).

MILLER: GAZPROM’S COOPERATION WITH ARMENIA IS OF LONG-TERM STRATEGIC NATURE

ArmInfo
2008-12-01 17:54:00

ArmInfo. Our cooperation with Armenia is of long-term strategic
nature and is based on mutual confidence and mutually beneficial
partnership. Gazprom not only sells gas to Armenia but also takes
part in its transportation and marketing in the territory of the
country. We have big joint plans in the electric energy sector, the
chairman of the Board of Gazprom OSJC Aleksey Miller said during his
meeting with President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan in the framework of
the welding of the last joint of the Kajaran-Ararat section of the
Iran-Armenia gas pipeline.

The Armenian-Russian ArmRosgazprom company has successfully worked
in Armenia for over 10 years and it is due to its efforts that the
Kajaran-Ararat section has been built. Miller is sure that the
new pipeline will significantly enhance the stability of energy
supplies in Armenia and will contribute to the development of the
gas infrastructure of the whole region.

Miller and Sargsyan pointed out the importance of the Gazprom-Armenia
cooperation and expressed conviction that it would be enlarged.

To remind, the Kajaran-Ararat section links the Iran-Armenia gas
pipeline with the gas system of Armenia. This 206.5 km section has
been built by ArmRosgazprom. This company enjoys monopoly for supply
and distribution of Russian natural gas in Armenia.